Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked bureaucrats to be innovative and
enterprising in order to ensure the country's rapid growth.

Honouring civil servants for their out-of-box thinking which resulted in
innovative work in the field of public administration, he stressed the need for
creating an environment which encouraged creativity and entrepreneurship in the
country.

"India's rapid progress depends critically on our ability to be innovative and
enterprising in a diverse range of areas, and especially in administration.

"I am happy that we have recognised the innovation and enterprise these civil
servants have shown in finding solutions to problems. We need more creativity of
this kind," the Prime Minister said inaugurating 8th Civil Services Day function
here.

He said there was a need to build an environment in the country where
creativity, entrepreneurship and enterprise are encouraged and rewarded.

The Prime Minister gave away awards to bureaucrats for excellent work in public
administrations including education initiatives in Naxal-hit Dantewada district
of Chhattisgarh and efforts to liberate people from manual scavenging in Badaun
district of Uttar Pradesh.

O P Choudhary, a 2005-batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, was conferred the
Prime Minister's award for excellence in public administration here for his
initiatives to provide education to children in Dantewada.

Choudhary, during his tenure as Dantewada Collector, had taken various
innovative measures to transform the minds of future generations through
education.

Another IAS officer Amit Gupta was also honoured by the Prime Minister for his
initiative 'Daliya Jalao'--liberating manual scavengers and moving towards total
sanitation, in Badaun district.

Gupta, as the then District Magistrate, had played a pivotal role in eliminating
manual scavenging from the area and provided skill upgradation training for the
people of the community involved in such works.

During his tenure all dry toilets in rural areas were also converted to flush
ones.

The PM also conferred the award to IAS officer Darpan Jain for his work of
saving open spaces and urban lakes and cultural rejuvenation of the twin city of
Hubli-Dharwad in Karnataka.

As a former Deputy Commissioner, Jain had initiated revitalisation of the city
by restoring its open spaces and urban lakes to achieve sustainable development.
Jain had decided to work for these open areas, which were fast becoming hub of
anti-social elements and garbage dump site, due to lack of open space for
recreational activities in the city.

The Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration, 2011-12, was
also given to a team of six officers led by Kamran Rizvi, an IAS official, for
developing sugarcane information system in Uttar Pradesh.

Besides him, Amitabh Prakash, Rajesh Kumar Pandey, Anil Kumar Sharma, Satyendra
Singh and Virendra Bahadur Singh were also honoured in a team category for
implementation of sugarcane procurement system, considered as sensitive in
state, which benefited both the farmer and the industry.

The award, which carries a trophy and citation cum certificate, was also given
to a seven-member team led by Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS officer, for
transformation of commercial tax regime in Karnataka.

The Sikkim Government was also given the PM's award for "Excellence in Rural
Management and Development in Challenging Physical Environment of the Sikkim
Himalaya" in organisation category for its pro-people initiatives including 100
per cent sanitation and successful implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act in state.

Whereas, Gujarat Government's Directorate of Employment and Training was
honoured with the PM's award for excellence in public administration in
organisation category for its initiatives--Kaushalya Vardhan Kendra-- aimed at
development of skills in the youths of the state.